Comic books, which first appeared in the 1930s, have entertained children and young adults for decades. They have told stories from a wide variety of genres, including romance, humor, horror, war, and Westerns (see entry under 1930s—Film and Theater in volume 2), but are most associated with tales featuring the exploits of superpowered heroes. The costumed heroes from their pages have been translated into all other forms of popular culture—plastic action-figure playtoys, Halloween costumes, television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) and radio (see entry under 1920s—TV and Radio in volume 2) shows, feature films, and so on—and continue to have a firm grasp on the American imagination.

Comic books first appeared in 1933 with the publication of Famous Funnies, which included reprints of popular newspaper strips. In 1935, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (1890–1968) launched New Fun Comics—the first comic book to print all-new...